kfield

Hi Club Lexus! I LOVE this forum been lurking a while but I finally have a reason to post. I have a 1992 ES300 which I adore however at 190k it is showing its age a bit and I have taken it to two different mechanics who have told me two different things regarding my car. I was hoping some other ES owners would be able to give me some of their experiences to help me decide what the best things to do is.

Basically it's leaking oil from the seals (common problem from what I gathered here.) Rear main seal has slow leak (Mechanic 1 said don't worry about/bother with it), an then it's leaking from valve cover & cam seals. Mechanic #1 says fix it or it will ruin my timing belt and such and claims this is the reason my bushing wore out on the one side. Quotes me $1200. Mechanic #2 says don't bother fixing it not worth it since new seals will wear out fast as there is probably mechanical work that needs to be done and I should just put conventional oil/stop leak in and keep driving it or sell it, too high miles to put that kind of $/effort into.

The leak is very slow and only leaks when driving I check my oil every few days and only need to top up every few weeks.

So what have other ES owners done in this situation? The car is in great shape otherwise.

Thanks in advance I really appreciate it!

-K

Oh and I'm in Northern NJ so if anyone wants to sell me a new one or buy this one I am open to it! :-)

LeX2K

If you pay a mechanic to do all of the work, then it may very well not be worth fixing. Can you do at least some of the work yourself? It will save you a fist full of cash, and you'll have the satisfaction of not forking over your hard earned money to someone else. Plus you'll be sure the job is done right.

BTW, I would bet that your oil filter adapter gasket is leaking. It's an O-ring that goes between where the old filter mounts to and the engine block. Very common leak and it makes it look like the rear main seal is leaking. The valve cover gaskets are fairly involved to replace, more labour than anything else actually the job itself is not too bad. The timing belt job is pretty easy once you remove the harmonic balancer, it's straight forward. The hardest part is removing the camshaft gears. Replacing the camshaft seals is easy if you have removed the valve covers, you pull off the cam bearing end cap and they pop right out.

kfield

I am always up for doing work myself but I have never done something so involved. I was under the impression this was a job better left to the professionals. I have been meaning to purchase the Haynes manual anyway. Perhaps I can recruit a friend who has more experience with DIY repairs. Have you personally done these repairs on your ES? Thanks for your input I really appreciate it! :-)

LeX2K

I've done these types of repairs many times, so it seems simple to me now. But the first time you do it, yes it is a challenge. If you have a friend with some experience that can help you along, go for it. Just make sure you have the necessary tools, well really the only specialty tool you need is a harmonic balancer puller.

Timing belt and valve cover gaskets are definitely a job that can be done at home, people do it all the time.

BDSL

Try leak stop first. It is the cheapest "temporary" solution.....$10.

If you are going that far to replace the seals/gaskets, you might as well replace all other components in the general area......$$$$$$

BradTank

In my opinion, your particular car not worth putting real money into, especially over something like oil leaks. The car is almost 20 years old, it's got nearly 200k miles, and it's probably worth around $1,500-$2,000. It's probably just a matter of time before something major like your tranny goes out or you need to replace the head gaskets.

If I were you, I'd try some of the stop leak (I've actually had good luck using it in cars that were in beater territory) put a drip pan under your car, and top it off when needed. Your probably talking about $10- $20 a year in fluids.

I'd just drive it into the ground and save up for something better in the meantime. You can find really nice ES models for dirt cheap that are in much better shape, I think your dollar goes a lot further buying a better one than throwing thousands into fixing one that's likely on its last legs.

nine3es

iTrader: (3)

i have a 93 with 230,xxx on her, shes starting to leak from every gasket. the valve cover leak ruined the alternator a year ago. one thing i will not do is use a stop leak. think about it, you are pouring something into oil that is supposed to stop oil leaks, how does it know where oil is supposed to flow and were its not? stop leak can cause more damage than a leak.
i want to keep my car another 20 yrs if i can so i have been buying parts here and there for a complete engine overhaul. i also picked up a work truck recently so i could take my time on the lex engine.

really it all depends on you. i havent paid a car note in 10 yrs on my lex so me personally, i would repair mine.

btw the haynes/chilton manual suck ***, i have a dealer service manual on this car if you are interested in working on it yourself.

BradTank

What oil "stop leak" type fluids do is make the seals swell up with the seal conditioner additives it has in it, it also makes the oil a bit thicker. All motor oils already have additives like these to condition the seals, the stop leak stuff just has quite a bit more.

I wouldn't use it in a car that doesn't have issues, but in a situation where a car is worth very little, and the leaking oil is actually damaging other things (like your alternator) I actually think it makes a lot of sense.

There's a lot of hysteria out there because many mechanics would much rather you pay them thousands of dollars to replace the seals. I've had honest mechanics actually recommend products like Lucas instead of replacing seals, and have used them with great success. It usually doesn't completely stop the leak, but greatly reduces it to where it's not much of an issue, and it's certainly not going to make your engine blow up.

Obviously fixing it the "right way" is your safest bet, but to pay someone thousands of dollars to replace seals on an engine with around 200,000 miles that's worth next to nothing seems like a waste money, especially considering you'd be better off just rebuilding the entire engine at that point anyway.

nicks88

I personally have a 1996 ES. It is paid for and I as well hate car payments. It has 180k miles on it now, and personally, I would rather fix my problems than pay 200-300 a month for a new/used car. Even if I have to eventually do the tranny and or engine overhaul/replacement, it is something I am willing to do to drive the car another 200k miles. It may seem like a lot of money up front, but most work, you can teach yourself and do yourself. And yes. The Haynes/Chilton manuals are garbage. Invest in a OEM repair manual. Best 120 bucks I have ever spent. Good luck. Although, you can get a 1996-1999 ES for 3 to 5k dollars, which if a tranny went bad, and you cant fix it, you will spend that much getting it fixed anyway. So buy the new car. Man, I so contradicted myself.. LOL.. Have a good one!!

EEngineer

keep the ride, those problems are minor problems....they may be a lil time consuming to fix but once u fix it, there's nothing wrong with the car.

Coulter

Unless you have some pristine car with a real emotional attachment, I wouldn't have those repairs done. When you start having repair costs that exceed the value of the car, it's time to consider moving on. With that kind of mileage, my guess is the entire suspension, front and back also needs to be replaced if it hasn't been already, in addition all sorts of repairs that will be coming up, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you rebuilt this car from top to bottom and put thousands of dollars of repairs into it, it's still going to be worth very little.

Obviously, if you can do the repairs yourself, go for it, but something like replacing a rear main seal is not a "beginner" type repair to make. Paying a shop to do that kind of work gets expensive in a hurry, in addition to all the other upcoming repairs you'll have on the horizon. If it's just something simple like a valve cover gasket, it's worth fixing if that's the main source, but if nearly every seal is slowly leaking, it's probably not worth it.

If you can't fix it yourself, I would just drive it as is and use "band-aid" type solutions like "Stop LEAK" and only do inexpensive repairs and maintenance to keep it going. Older cars can become a money pit in a hurry if you don't have the means to make repairs yourself.

tomf

I think about this a lot. IMO if the total repair costs are less than $2000 per year you are coming out ahead on a strictly monetary basis regardless of the value of the car. But there are other intangibles to consider; the joy of a new car, how much you like your old car, downtime for repairs, frustration of making multiple repairs, how much you like or dislike working on your car, etc. Even if your repairs cost way less than whatever your monetary threshold you may decide on another car because of the intangibles.

I say $2000/year because I think that's about what a new car would cost over a 15 year life, not even counting for repairs and maintenance. For instance my wife and I recently bought a new car for my wife costing $30,000 counting principle and interest. Over 15 years, that's $2000/year.

Like other posters have written, if you can do the repairs yourself parts are not too expensive.

I would rather drive my $4000 ES than her $30,000 Toyota.

Of course there's nothing like that new car smell.